New Trinity President Redux

Talia Cutler ’27

Executive Opinion Editor

On Sept. 24, 2024 I wrote an article in which I pointed out Trinity’s financial deficit. I got my sources from Propublica, a nonprofit news organization with a database of higher education’s financial records. In his letter to the editor responding to my article, Trinity College Chief of Staff and Connecticut State Representative Jason Rojas asserted that Trinity was not in a financial deficit, and in fact, had netted $7 million last year. To support his claims, he pointed towards the Trinity College financial audit document, which he ostentatiously said was “complex.” Tripod readers called into question the integrity of my writing and of the Tripod itself. 

An internal email to faculty and staff on Nov. 21, 2024 stated that the College was in a $1.9 million operating deficit last year. President Berger-Sweeney also noted that “If [Trinity] take[s] no action, we anticipate a multimillion dollar deficit in the current fiscal year with larger deficits in FY26 and FY27. This is a financial reality that is not sustainable and one that I cannot leave for my successor.” The $7 million figure Rojas so confidently put in the Tripod was a bit misleading, given that I referred to a deficit and administrators immediately ran to net assets (which, I should add, Propublica still has listed in a deficit.) I am not sure why Rojas put the $7 million figure in the Tripod. I am not sure what the mission of his letter to the editor was. Truthfully, I am not sure it matters. This blatant attempt to mislead students and the fallout that ensued is indicative of a troubling administrative culture at Trinity College. This culture, however, has the potential to change starting July 1, 2025. 

To be clear, I am not at all surprised at this public interaction. I am merely exhausted with it. When administration attempts to pacify student voices with empty promises, sympathetic head-nods and misleading or untrue information, a rift is created. College administrators can and should be a resource for students, fostering a community that encourages conversation and transparency. This is not the culture I see at Trinity today. Every student/administration interaction outside of disciplinary measures feels impersonal. Students who do interact closely with higher-ups feel cherry-picked (note the lack of an application process for a presidential search committee — there was a single student representative chosen). Any conversation on student values is met with dismissal rather than a listening ear. When I made the point that there is an overwhelming student consensus that our president is unavailable to the student body, Rojas merely denied it, asserting that President Berger-Sweeney “holds office hours which are well attended.” The “office hours” is a singular hour held twice last semester, and once per semester last year — four total “office hours” in the past two years, often with short notice and incorrect dates. There are only six time slots. Office hours aside, I have no shortage of anecdotes about strange interactions with senior administrators in which they twist words, spout non sequiturs and dodge direct questions.

With the appointment of incoming president Dan G. Lugo, there is a concrete shift in leadership descending upon the college. Board of Trustees president Lisa Bisaccia ’78 asserted that the presidential search committee “particularly noted Dan’s ability to steer institutions toward enduring financial strength while amplifying their brand and deepening campus pride.” Seeing as financial literacy was a notable facet of search material, Lugo’s presence on campus shows promise towards a stable endowment and hopefully (after some conservation methods) more resources for student needs. Another notable aspect of the Lugo brand was his reported enrollment hike of 15% over two years at Queen’s University of Charlotte, where he has served as president since 2019. In short, Lugo is well versed in finance and enrollment, which is clearly a priority to the college. Yet, still the question remains: why pretend that it isn’t? How will Lugo address the senior administration’s poor attitude towards students? And if Rojas’s letter truly was a miscommunication or error, why did no other college official point out his mistake? 

I do not expect a college president to be best friends with every single student. However, I want a college president who will do right by its student body and treat the college like just that: a college, a place of education. An unwillingness to engage with students and tell the truth is not productive to a strong campus community. Perhaps it is productive to politics, though! Yet, Trinity is not a senate floor and students are not dissenters. I wish our administrators would remember this. 

In the fall 2014 edition of the Trinity Reporter (President Berger-Sweeney’s first semester on campus), she wrote, “my first priority is to listen. I can come with my ideas about higher education, but my first job is to listen to people’s hopes and aspirations for Trinity.” Of course, this is an optimistic outlook on a demanding and draining job. However, I hope that this sentiment is one that continues to the very end of her stint as president and informs her relationships with the student body. I also hope it carries over effectively and enduringly into Lugo’s presidency. 

When I wrote my original article, I chose to write about three issues: financials, DEI and presidential outreach/transparency. Instead of listening to these concerns (while flippantly written), the Trinity administration did what they do best — take it personally and lashed back. Readers of the Tripod are not privy to every private email and interaction, but I can assure you they were not pleasant or professional. This is perhaps the biggest and most prevalent issue I should have written about to begin with. Trinity College suffers from a toxic administrative culture characterized by dishonesty, dismissiveness towards student concerns and a lack of genuine engagement. There is a harmful disconnect between students and those in power. The upcoming presidential transition is a potential opportunity for positive change. 

I, like many of my peers (if not all of them) want to see the Trinity community flourish. We want to feel connected with and trust our administrators. We are not Zarathustra’s parable of the tarantula, vengeful under the guise of peace, opposed to anyone in power. Our concern is genuine and so are our ideas. The sooner administrators realize this, the sooner we can reach a state of genuine engagement, connection and transformation (as per Trinity’s mission statement). Sans tarantulas.